Rokk Krinn

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Publication information
Cosmic Boy
Part of the cover art for Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #9. Art by Barry Kitson.
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Adventure Comics # 247 (April 1958)
Created by	Otto Binder Al Plastino
In story information
Alter ego	Rokk Krinn
Place of origin	Braal
Team affiliations	Legion of Super-Heroes
Notable aliases	Polestar, Time Trapper
Abilities	Magnetism manipulation

Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn of the planet Braal) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the 30th and 31st centuries of the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958).

[edit] Character History

He is a founding member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, along with Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and he has the superhuman ability to create magnetic fields. Cosmic Boy's brother, Pol, eventually joined the Legion as Magnetic Kid, but died during the "Magic Wars".

Cosmic Boy's character has been fairly consistent over the various versions of the Legion. He was the Legion's original leader and is portrayed as such in the current version of the series. He maintains a serious attitude and a strong sense of duty.

In the pre-Zero Hour Legion, Cosmic Boy was romantically involved with Night Girl (Lydda Jath) from the Legion of Substitute Heroes. During the "Five Year Gap", he lost his powers in the course of the war between the planets of Braal and Imsk (the homeworld of Shrinking Violet), in which the Imskian army used a "dampener" on the magnetic fields within the Braalian soldiers. "Vi" was on the scene when her fellow Legionnaire was crippled by the dampener during the battle of Venado Bay, and harbored deep guilt for years. Now going by plain old "Rokk Krinn", Rokk retired to the slums of a demilitarized Braal with his wife Lydda, who gave birth to their son "Pol" (named for Rokk's brother). When Reep Daggle reformed the Legion, a powerless Rokk joined up, moving his family to the Legion's new headquarters. The former "Cosmic Boy" continued to serve with honor during the adult Legion's tour of duty, proving that he needed no powers to be a hero. Rokk did however regain his powers shortly before Zero Hour, thanks to a special pair of power gauntlets. He took on the codename "Polestar", only to renounce the power gauntlets after they began to affect his mind. After learning that he was apparently destined to become the Time Trapper, Rokk and the rest of the Legion were erased from history by Zero Hour.

Cosmic Boy #1 (December 1986). Art by Steve Lightle.

Cosmic Boy's original costume was pink with black at the sides, with four white circles, the code-name "Cosmic Boy" written on the chest, and a plastic bubble space helmet. After his first appearance, the helmet and the codename were replaced with white epaulets. For a period in the late 1970s, he was portrayed in a costume that was essentially a black bustier with black gloves and boots, with bare arms, shoulders, chest and legs. This costume – one of several designed by Mike Grell – received a mixed reaction from fans, some of whom felt it inappropriately sexualized Cosmic Boy, while others saw it as innovative and reflective of the times in which the comic was then being published. Cosmic Boy returned to a close variation on the original costume a few years later. As Polestar, he wore a black and purple bodysuit with a stripe up the side and a black cowl. In the post-Zero Hour Legion, he wore a version of his original costume with lavender as the primary color instead of pink. The "Threeboot" version is a similar pattern, with blue as the primary color and black circles instead of white.

The events of the Infinite Crisis miniseries have apparently restored a close analogue of the Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Legion to continuity, as seen in "The Lightning Saga" story arc in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America, and in the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc in Action Comics. Cosmic Boy is included in their number.

Cosmic Boy is one of the few Legionnaires ever to have his own miniseries, which ran for four issues in the mid-1980s as a spin-off of the Legends cross-over.

[edit] Other media

Cosmic Boy[1] appeared in an episode of the Superman animated series with Saturn Girl and Chameleon titled "New Kids in Town". He was voiced by Chad Lowe. He later reappeared in an episode of Justice League Unlimited titled "Far From Home".

Cosmic Boy is a recurring member of the new animated series, Legion of Super-Heroes. It reveals that he was the original leader of the Legion. He is voiced by Wil Wheaton.

It appears that he has some romantic feelings for Saturn Girl in the season 1 episode "Chain of Command". He wanted (or ordered) Saturn Girl to stay with him and Brainiac 5 where she'll be safe. Saturn Girl angrily objected that she was able to take care of herself. She flies off to help the rest of the teammates before Cosmic Boy tried to apologize. Whether or not they resolved following the mission was never addressed.

He was beaten into unconsciousness at the beginning of the season 2, but returned to play a significant role in the third episode, entitled "Cry Wolf".